How sick is our Planet?

The patient's condition is serious. Symptoms are multiple. His breath is noxious. He has a fever, higher than ever before. Efforts to bring it down are not working. Poison has been found in body fluids. When symptoms are treated in one area, more pop up in other body parts. If this were a usual patient, doctors would be inclined to declare the multiple sicknesses as chronic and terminal. Not knowing what else to do, they would just take steps to make the patient as comfortable as possible until the end came.
HOWEVER, this is not a human patient. It is our home—the earth.
The above scenario well illustrates what is happening to our planet. Dirty air, global warming, polluted waters, and toxic wastes are just a few of the maladies of our very ill earth. Like the doctors mentioned above, the experts are in a quandary as to what to do.The media regularly call attention to earth's poor health with such headlines and captions as: "Blast fishing turns seabeds into killing fields." A "Billion Asians Could Be Parched in 24 Years." "Forty million tons of toxic trash a year trades globally." "Nearly two thirds of the 1,800 wells in Japan are contaminated with poisons." "Ozone Hole Over Antarctic Is Back and Bigger."Some people become accustomed to frequent news of danger to the environment, perhaps even thinking, 'That is not of great concern as long as it does not affect me.' However, whether we realize it or not, the wholesale destruction of the earth's environment affects the vast majority of people. Since contamination of our planet is now so pervasive, it likely already affects more than one aspect of our lives. Thus, all should be concerned about the health and preservation of our home. After all, where else would we live?Just how widespread is the problem? How sick is the earth? How are people's lives affected? Let us take a look at just a few factors that help us to understand why our earth is not just mildly indisposed but, instead, seriously ill.THE OCEANS: Large sections of ocean are overfished. A report by the United Nations Environment Programme says that "70 percent of marine fisheries are so exploited that reproduction cannot or can just barely keep up." For example, populations of cod, hake, haddock, and flounder in the North Atlantic fell by as much as 95 percent between 1989 and 1994. If this continues, what will it mean for millions who depend on the sea as a major source of their food?Additionally, each year an estimated 20 million to 40 million tons of sea life are caught and thrown back into the ocean—usually wounded or dead. Why? They are caught along with target fish but are not wanted.
FORESTS: Deforestation has many negative sides to it. Loss of trees results in a reduction in the earth's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, and this is said to be a cause of global warming. Certain species of plants, the potential source of lifesaving medicines, will disappear. Nevertheless, forest destruction continues unabated. In fact, the rate of destruction has increased in recent years. Some authorities feel that if this persists, tropical forests could disappear in about 20 years.
TOXIC WASTES: Dumping of harmful materials both on land and in the sea is a serious problem that has the potential for bringing great harm to millions. Radioactive wastes, heavy metals, and by-products of plastics are among elements that can cause abnormalities, sickness, or death in humans and animals.
CHEMICALS: During the past 100 years, close to 100,000 new chemicals have come into use. These chemicals find their way into our air, soil, water, and food. Relatively few of them have been tested for their health effects on humans. However, of the ones that have, a significant number have been found to be carcinogenic or to cause disease in other ways.There are many more threats to our environment: air pollution, untreated sewage, acid rain, lack of clean water. The few already mentioned suffice to show that the earth is really sick. Can the patient be saved, or is the battle already lost?
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Are you Green?

The need to find a lasting solution to the problem of rising sea level, Tsunamis, and natural disasters, resulting from Global Warming cannot be over emphasized.

Carbon monoxide, the chief destroyer of the ozone layer, is being used by 98% of Nigerians everyday, directly or indirectly. Motor vehicle users, generator users, and those who use Petroleum in any way are the major people who contribute ti the woes of already threatened human species.

Humans have out of his selfishness, endangered the life of his fellow man, flying creatures, aquatic creatures, and the entire life users-microbes and the tiniest of all creatures, even plants. How so?

Oil spillages in the Niger-Delta region has left the people there without clean water to drink. These people, being fishermen predominantly, have been rendered jobless. The fishes have been exterminated due to spillages from pipelines in the region, and the oil marketers and explorers there, have done little or nothing to address their plight. The lack-luster attitude of government at different tiers has further frustrated the chances of survival people living in the region.

The youths, left with no other option, took to arms which have led to the kidnapping of expatriates most of which are foreigners. Consequently, the image of Nigeria has been dented in the comity of nations. The youths became threats to the life of you and I; the Atlas Cove incident is a resounding evidence that the South West is not left out of the hullabaloo.

The world in the last two decades have recorded more deaths from natural disasters, than it did since the beginning of human race. So many died in the Hurricane Katrina; say 10,000 0r more. The Tsunami that rocked China left scores dead and thousands homeless, same goes for the earthquake that shook Italy earlier this year; the casualty still count on.

Is Nigeria immune to natural disasters? No. Lagos alone in five years recorded almost a thousand resulting from flooding and rising lagoon and sea level. Bar beach had to be put under total rehab before it could be reclaimed. The bar beach which used to be a tourist attraction was lost to the rising coastline of Victoria Island.

Consequently, readers, its high time we took a proactive action. We can start by planting beautiful flowers in your homes; whether in flower pot or straight up in your garden. Their effect on us is priceless.The main importance of plants in our lives are that they intake our Carbon Dioxide (Co2) that we breath out and in place they breath out oxygen which we breath in. Without plants we would run out of oxygen and die very quickly. This applies not just to us humans, but to all animals as well.

But do you know we are in short of plants? Global Warming have reduced the amount of rainfall we have in a year to as low as 60% compared to what we used to have 20 years ago. The short of rainfall has made planting very important. The lake chad that used to be visible to astronauts in space is now very hard to locate. Reports from U.N marines have shown that the lake, has within 20 years shrank to less than twice its original size.

So therefore, we must join this campaign to save ourselves, our friends and loved ones.